Me aro koe ki te ha o HIneahuone - Pay head to the dignity of women, of our soils.

What is 'Papawhakaritorito'?

Papawhakaritorito is an Indigenous land restoration project led by women that enacts our ancestral responsibility as descendants of our Sky Father (Ranginui) and our Earth Mother (Papatūānuku) to return the healing energies of Tānemāhuta (Deity of the Forests) to our lands. This is a Māori-led rematriation project that elevates our sacred relationship with Earth Mother through ecological restoration that is led out by Indigenous communities.

The purpose of Papawhakaritorito is to elevate indigenous seed,soil and food sovereignty through education, research,and practices that decolonise our current food system.

Our Story

We have been stewarding 12 ha of hua parakore (Māori verified organic) land for the last 20 years in Kaitoke, Wellington, Aotearoa. This has involved re-cloaking the land in native trees to bring back native birds, sequester carbon, to grow biodiversity and live Indigenous food, seed and soil sovereignty everyday. We have a particular focus on soil health and elevating the mana (power and reputation) of our soil deity - Hineahuone.

This work has been done alongside Indigenous communities and with non-Indigenous allies as a pathway to heal the trauma of agricultural colonisation and model regenerative activities for Indigenous hope and healing on land. Whilst we have done a lifetime's work planting trees and digging holes on some parts of our land as well as growing food gardens to live Māori food sovereignty everyday, our vision is to scale out these activities to the rest of the farm, restoring grassland back to forest in community with Indigenous peoples.

Our vision

This project takes place on lands stolen from mana whenua (local indigenous peoples) deforested and stripped of its native habitat due to agricultural colonisation, particularly livestock and dairy production. The land is also close to a regional park that shows us, on our daily walks, how diverse, fueling, healing and vibrant the forests used to be. We seek to create a biodiversity corridor from our farm to these remaining ancient forests. We will return our pasture paddocks back to native forest and wetland habitats through management of invasive species and the planting of thousands of native trees endemic to our area. We will involve Indigenous communities and our allies in these activities to return to the spirit of nature both for tangata (people) and whenua (land).

Photo : Deforested agricultural land in flood - awaiting reforestation and healing

Being a good descendant: Recloaking our Earth Mother, Papatūānuku will enable us to fulfil our obligations as her descendants and will enliven Indigenous Māori food ways to enable a return to the eating of our cultural landscapes as Indigenous communities. This type of land regeneration is an antidote to the prevailing settler colonial norms of mechanised agriculture and the extractive logics of capitalism. This is more than simply land regeneration, this is a project about thriving Indigenous communities holding spirit and place with nature.

How We Work - 'Leading by the values of our ancestors'

'Regenerating Indigenous Healing Grounds' is a values-led project, guided by the infinite wisdom of our tūpuna (ancestors) and our debt to them for the gifts they have brought us. We bring the values of:

• Aroha ki a Papatūānuku - love and compassion for our Earth Mother
• Mana Wahine - acknowledging the creative and connective powers of Indigenous women
• Tauutuutu - reciprocal obligations to enhance the wellbeing of the other
• Whanaungatanga - the weaving and binding of communities
• Rangatiratanga - Indigenous self determination

Your Support will be going into

🌳 Reforestation and regeneration We intend to regenerate and reforest 3 ha of farmland, with infrastructure to support the project, storytelling and the coming together of communities.

📣 Amplifying Indigenous narratives As Indigenous storytellers, writers and researchers we will produce a range of digital outputs to share with our communities and our social media following to show the pathway we are taking from agricultural colonisation to rematriation.

Hands behind this work

Dr Jessica Hutchings and Associate Professor Jo Smith are the founding trustees of Papawhakaritorito Trust, established in 2022 to uplift Indigenous seed, soil and food sovereignty.Jessica is from Ngai Tahu, Ngati Huirapa and Gujurat, India and Jo has whakapapa to Waitaha, Ngati Mamoe, Ngai Tahu.